1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to carrying and display cases for musical instruments and, more particularly, to a carrying cases for a hand-held stringed musical instruments which convert to free-standing display cases therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Musical instruments are typically delicate and expensive devices. If roughly handled, metal wind instruments are subject to denting, bending and breakage. Acoustic stringed instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, contrabasses, and guitars, are even more delicate, as acoustic requirements necessitate that they be fabricated from thin, single-ply wood sheets, which have been precisely carved and glued together. Not only are they structurally fragile, they can be damaged by extreme changes of temperature and humidity. Because the manufacture of acoustic stringed instruments requires a high degree of craftsmanship that is not easily duplicated by machine, the cost of such instruments ranges from expensive to astronomically expensive. As a consequence of the somewhat whimsical nature of the growth process, some pieces of wood, and the stringed instruments made from them, are inexplicably better than others. An exceptional violin can easily cost in excess of $100,000. Those handcrafted by Stradivari in the early eighteenth century can sell for millions.
Because of the delicate nature of stringed handheld instruments, the prior art is replete with carrying cases of nearly every genre for such instruments. Though it is assumed that many of these cases effectively provide for the safe transport and storage of such instruments, most are more of a nuisance than an assistance to musicians at the time of performance. It has become quite common for performers of popular music, such as rock, folk, country, and rhythm and blues, to use several instruments during a concert, or even during a single piece of music. Thus, a guitar player may alternate between acoustic and electric guitars, and may even perform without a guitar while singing. A saxophone player, on the other hand, may also perform on the clarinet. Such a musician needs a structure or apparatus in which he can temporarily store the instruments used during the performance. While a number of prior art carrying cases double as instrument stands, they are typically neither convenient carrying cases nor stable instrument stands. U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,254, issued to Jeffrey S. Bruce in 1979, discloses an instrument carrying case having a pair of opposed doors, each of which is hingeably mounted to a longitudinal top edge of the case. The doors fold back to support the case in a near-vertical position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,785, issued to Jacques in 1980, discloses an instrument carrying case, for a stringed instrument, having a pair of opposed clamshell doors, one of which is mounted to a top longitudinal edge, the other being mounted to an adjacent lower longitudinal edge. In an open position, the doors reveal both an instrument carrying pocket and an instrument display pocket oriented at a 90-degree angle to the carrying pocket. U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,290, issued to Joseph J. DeMato in 1984, discloses a guitar case and holder combination, which can be fixed by an auxilliary support member into a partially-open position. In the partially-open position, a guitar can be supported by a central outer portion of the case in an elevated position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,051, issued to Jonathan Tiefenbrun and Peter J. Wilk in 1998, incorporates a folding triangular member on the bottom of the case which, when extended, supports the case in a near-vertical position. The top of the case detatches so that the lower portion can be used as an instrument stand.
In addition to the instrument carrying cases which double as instrument stands, there are a number of stands that support an instrument case in a near vertical position. U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,531, issued to Neil Bremner in 2001, is representative of that genre.
What is needed is a case for storing, carrying and displaying musical instruments, and primarily handheld stringed musical instruments. The case should be relatively compact, light weight and easy to carry, simple to manufacture, easily interconvertible between storage/carry and display modes, having a stable footprint and providing ready accessability to the instrument when used in the display mode, and protective of the instrument when used in any of the three modes.